Let's Play
by AsreonInfusion
Summary: It was one of those open secrets that no one was really quite sure if they believed or not. It was legendary. The finest artists, writers, and programmers from Silver Elite and Red Leather had come together and made… a game. Did it really exist? Yes. Yes, it did. And Cloud had a copy. [A collection of one-shots from what has become fondly known as 'sex game verse'. Eventual ASGZC.]
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** A present for Kess on Tumblr, who totally out of the blue asked me if I would play a game version of one of the favourite OT5 multichapter smut fics I've read. I would. Absolutely. And so would Cloud, apparently.

This thing has spawned into a whole miniature AU, including a sequel featuring the three First's reactions written by lilly-white, and podfic of the first couple of parts by Kess. You can find those and all the sex game verse ramblings on my tumblr (asreoninfusion, same username as here) and then /tagged/sex+game+verse. Go check the other parts out!

This first chapter was already posted in my other collection of little one-shots, Merciful Gods. However, I'm now posting it as it's own story because there's already three stories from this verse, and it makes more sense to keep them all together. ^^

**Warnings:** Masturbation, mentions of BDSM themes.

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><p>It was one of those open secrets that no one was really quite sure if they believed or not. It was <em>legendary<em>.

A collaboration project between Silver Elite and Red Leather. (Keepers of Honour were too honourable, and the Study Group were excluded after making every line of the script sound as melodramatic and incomprehensible as Loveless.) The finest artists, writers, and programmers from the fan clubs had come together and made… a game.

Did it really exist?

Yes. Yes, it did. And Cloud had a copy. The rarest, most legendary piece of fan work on the planet, and Cloud had a copy.

His fingers were trembling as he slid the disc into the CD tray.

Cloud knew exactly what he wanted to do. He'd read every discussion and walkthrough on the net. The title screen popped up; new game. Difficulty setting; easy, medium, or hard? On easy you got to play as one the famous First Class SOLDIERs themselves. Medium gave an option of Second and Third Class characters.

But hard mode, that allowed you to create your own character. All social links were set to zero, and it was a tedious slog to get them up high enough to do anything fun with the game. But would it be worth it in the end?

Definitely.

Cloud made his selection and created a computerised avatar of himself.

He didn't care how long it took. He didn't even notice the time passing, not when his heart kept skipping every time his avatar self ran into one of his heroes in the hallway, or got to deliver something meaningless to their offices, or had an actual conversation with _Sephiroth_.

Well. A computerised Sephiroth. But apparently the writers had inside information from some high-ranking ShinRa employees. It was supposed to be very in character.

It got to three o'clock in the morning. Cloud was in nothing but his boxers, and the only light in the room was the dull blue pulse of the computer screen.

'Would you like to come back to our place?' computer-Genesis asked. Cloud could imagine the purr in that question. Sephiroth was there as well, and it was clear what the 'our' meant.

_Yes_. Threesome unlocked on his first try!

'Would you like to come back to our place?'

Cloud's hands were shaking as he hovered the mouse over his response options.

"Yes," he breathed.

His avatar was sat on the couch in their private apartment. Genesis was on one side of him and Sephiroth on the other. They were close enough together that their thighs were touching. Sephiroth's lips brushed against Cloud's ear as he leant over to whisper something.

Gaia, the art in this was so good.

'Yes,' Cloud clicked again, and then he was on their bed, and Genesis was kissing him, and Sephiroth's mouth was on his cock. Cloud let out an audible groan.

'How do you want it?' Sephiroth asked.

It took all of Cloud's self-control to click away from the screen, opening up the menu. He'd read the walkthroughs, after all. He'd taken the time to collect certain items available to make the game more… exciting. He scrolled through the selection of toys his character had available and transferred them over to the NPC inventory.

There. Now.

'How do you want it?'

"Hard," Cloud whispered. "Gods, Sephiroth, Genesis, give it to me _hard_."

That brought up another list.

Bondage, yes. Rough sex, yes. Vibrator, yes. Cock ring, yes. Nipple clamps, yes. Spreader bar, yes. Blindfold, yes.

He was pretty sure he'd ticked off practically every option available, but he didn't care.

'Fuck me.' His mouse hovered over the confirmation option.

"Fuck me," Cloud begged.

The computer whirred and the scene began to play.

Cloud's hand slid down into his boxers and he whimpered. It looked like him. The avatar he'd created, it looked so much like him. It looked like it was him tied up like that, ass in air, legs spread wide open as Genesis worked a thick dildo inside him. Like it was his mouth around Sephiroth's dick, his face getting fucked.

Cloud pinched his nipples, hard, as Genesis tightened the clamps onto his avatar. He tightened his fist around the base of his cock when Sephiroth slid the ring onto him.

(He didn't close his eyes when the blindfold went on. He couldn't bear to miss a second of this.)

The computer chair skidded across the room as Cloud stumbled out of it an over to his bed, never taking his eyes off the screen. He kicked his boxers off. He bent over on his knees, ass in the air, working two fingers deep inside himself as the SOLDIERs fucked him one after the other.

"Sephiroth," Cloud moaned. "Genesis, please."

He kept time with the animation, stroking over his aching erection.

'Come for me,' Sephiroth demanded.

Cloud was so willing to obey. His fingers pressed hard against that perfect spot inside him, sending sparks of pleasure and pain shooting straight to his cock. He jerked himself roughly and cried out, trembling as hit his peak.

The Cloud avatar on screen lay sprawled out across the rumpled covers, covered in red marks and bruises and thick streaks of cum, used and ravished.

It looked so much like him, and Cloud groaned again, rubbing himself through the pleasurable aftershocks.

He was still panting hard as he returned to the computer. It was late, and he was tired, and he had so much delicious material for his fantasies already.

He would play some more tomorrow.

'Save game,' Cloud selected. One last image of Sephiroth and Genesis smiled out at him as the program shut down.

Cloud blew them a kiss and went to bed, buzzing happily.


	2. Chapter 2

I wrote this at one in the morning and it's kinda dumb, but there is Zack/Zack sex game verse selfcest. Because reasons.

Selfcest is one of those things that sounds great in theory, but is actually really, really confusing to write. So, please keep in mind that in this fic, 'Zackary' refers to the in-game computer version of Zack, and 'Zack' is the character avatar that Zack is in control of. The names are not interchangeable. Also, the sex scene is written as an actual sex scene, but it is just happening in the game. It got boring just describing what's happening on a computer screen all the time.

**Warnings:** bondage, BDSM themes, Zack's pretty rough with himself. (That's a very weird sentence to be writing. This whole thing was weird to be writing, heh.)

**This part was written for Tumblr, as a continuation of an ask I received. You do need to have read the answer to the ask for this to make sense, so I shall post it here before we begin, for your convenience. (I have this habit of starting to answer asks normally, but then they morph into almost-fic style.)**

**Q:** Would you tell me more headcanons for sex game verse?

**A:** Okay, let's talk about medium difficulty.

The medium difficulty starts you off playing as a Second or Third Class SOLDIER, so you've got already got a bit of a social link with the First Classes, and a lot more opportunity to run into them or work with them.

There's a few pre-set Second Class characters. You can choose one to play as, and the rest will populate the SOLDIER floor. They have basic social link dynamics as well, and you can even unlock some sex scenes for them. But no one bothers with it usually because hello, Sephiroth and Genesis and Angeal.

Cloud never paid any attention to those characters. He really should have. Because one of them? Yeah. One of them was Zack.

The same Zack who found out that he had a copy of the game and decided it would be the most hilarious thing for them to spend an evening playing through it and sharing a few beers, instead of just watching a movie or whatever like a normal person.

So Cloud is all, _oh shit oh shit oh shit_. "Zack… you do know what this game is?" Please give me the CD back.

(Of course Zack knew. He's been trying to get his hands on a copy for forever.)

Cloud tries to convince him to play on hard mode, because then Zack would probably get bored of it before he got to any of the juicy bits.

"No way, Cloudy, hard mode will take way too long! I'm a SOLDIER, I should get to play as a SOLDIER."

The menu pops up, and both their eyes widen.

"Whoa! I'm in the fucking game!"

"Oh my god, Zack…"

"That's totally meant to be me, look!" He clicks over onto the character and rotates the model around.

Cloud is slowly dying in the corner.

Zack decides that actually, he's got a better idea than playing as his Second Class pre-set. He goes back to hard mode and creates his own avatar of himself, and proceeds to spend hours levelling up… not so he can screw with any of the First Class, but so he can unlock a scene in which he gets to watch the two Zacks hump each other like bunnies on speed.

Because selfcest fuck yeah.

Cloud gets tired of being absolutely mortified and falls asleep on Zack's couch in the meantime.

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><p>Cloud was completely conked out with his limbs splayed haphazardly over Zack's couch, a few empty beer bottles on the floor next to him. Zack grinned as he glanced back at the scene. What a cutie.<p>

A cutie who Zack was beginning to suspect wasn't anywhere near as innocent as he looked. He had a copy of the game, after all. And seemed to play it regularly, given how he was able to direct Zack in every aspect of how to build up his social links and level up quicker. And find some of those items, Gaia. How did such a sweet-faced backwater kid even know what that stuff was for?

Not that he wouldn't look fucking gorgeous in a thick leather collar, all spread out and tied in place, and wow, okay, Zack really needed to stop that train of thought.

He shifted his attention back to the game. He had _plans_. But he was kinda glad that Cloud was asleep, because how did he explain that? Yeah, I want to see two computerised versions of myself get it on with each other, that sounds totally hot?

What. It did, though.

Zack directed his avatar self over to his pre-set game self, who was… standing around the common area of the SOLDIER floor doing squats. He'd heard that the game creators had inside information and that everything was super in-character, but that level of accuracy was pretty weird to see. Who the hell was their informant?

He opened up the actions menu. Ask out on date? Why not, Zack grinned. He could take himself out for a meal. Burgers all the way. His favourite burger joint was even listed as one of the options, all of which were real-life places in Midgar.

The burgers and a few beers made his social link with Zackary shoot right up. (The computer-controlled version of himself was Zackary, he'd decided. Both of them being Zack was going to get confusing otherwise.) Zack took a gulp of his own beer, feeling pleasantly buzzed.

'Wanna come back to my place?' Zackary asked.

"Hell yeah," Zack crowed.

The two identical characters made their way back to ShinRa HQ, and Zack suddenly became aware of an imminent dilemma. Did he want to fuck himself or get fucked by himself? He sniggered at the fact this was a question that even needed asking. Technology was wonderful.

He decided to go for the former option, since he got told to go fuck himself on a semi-regular basis. Usually by Genesis, if he was trying to hang out with Angeal and Zack was being obnoxiously loud in the same vicinity. Zack hoped he would appreciate the irony.

The apartment was decked out like any of the generic SOLDIER sleeping quarters, with just a few ineffective personal touches the designers had added in. Though Zack loved that his in-game counterpart had an adorable plush puppy displayed proudly on his bed.

He threw another glance back over his shoulder. Yep, Cloud was still sleeping soundly. Zack plugged his headphones in and opened up the inventory menu Cloud had told him about.

Zack relaxed on the bed, arms up behind his head and legs splayed casually. The mirrored doors of the built-in wardrobe to the side of the bed gave him a splendid view of himself and the action that was about to take place.

Zackary's weight dipped the mattress as his twin crawled up the length of his body. Zack pulled him down into a kiss.

He kept one eye open, watching their reflection. They made a pretty damn hot couple. Their mouths worked together, and Zack saw flashes of tongue as the kiss deepened into something messy and unhinged. He worked his hands beneath Zackary's SOLDIER top and slid it off over his head.

That seemed to prompt the removal of clothing, and before long they were naked and pressed against each other, and that even more fucking hot. Zack had always been pretty shameless about his body. You got used to the lack of privacy in the army, and anyway, he knew he looked good. He was pleased to find his other self was true to life.

He kept kissing himself as they tangled together.

Calloused hands explored each other's bodies, learning the difference a change of perspective could make. Zack had never been able to look over his own shoulder and see the shapes of his shoulder blades, the deep line his spine carved through the muscles of his back, the curve of his ass.

He had a pretty nice ass. He felt it up.

Zackary responded with heated touches that seemed to find all of Zack's weakness. Blunt fingernails trailed up his side and made him shiver, then ran over his nipples. Zack shuddered.

He grabbed Zackary's hips and flipped him over, but Zackary wasn't going to give up without a fight. Good. Zack laughed as they grappled with each other, roughly but not carelessly. Zackary tossed Zack over his side, and Zack used the leverage of his hips to reverse their positions again. It was a good thing the double bed was pretty huge.

The playfight ended with Zack on top, straddling his twin's hips.

Zack grinned down at him, his smile feral. He could do anything. He could do everything he would feel bad about doing but wished he could do (to his too-young, too-adorable best infantry buddy, but Gaia he was so not thinking about that), and he could let go in ways he'd feel nervous about anyone but himself seeing. No one else would ever know about this.

He started by flipping his other self onto his stomach and yanking his arms behind his back, hard enough to make Zackary hiss. He bucked underneath him, but Zack held him fast.

They had laid out an assortment of toys and paraphernalia on the bedside table ready to play with. Zack took a coil of soft black cord and wrapped it around Zackary's arms, wrist to elbow. He looked good like that. The contrast of the dark rope against tan skin, and the little red marks where Zackary struggled against his bonds.

He took a collar from the table and tightened it around Zackary's neck to complete the look. Maybe Zack complained about the puppy nickname, but it was undeniable that it suited him.

"Are you just gonna sit and stare at me all day?" Zackary griped.

Nope," Zack replied happily. He turned him over again, and Zackary wriggled beneath him to get his arms comfortable underneath the arch of his back. Zack scooted up to sit on his chest, leaning over his twin with his arms resting on the headboard. His erection was pointedly in Zackary's face. "Suck it."

Zack was regularly told he had a big mouth. Both figuratively and literally. One thing was for certain; it was a damn good mouth for sucking cock with.

Zackary glowered indignantly as Zack shoved his dick into his mouth, making a muffled noise of protest. It was totally against blowjob etiquette, but Zack figured he could get away with it for once. He'd always kinda wanted to know what he would look like getting thoroughly face-fucked. His lips were stretched tight around the base of the thick cock he was choking on, eyes watering, swallowing desperately around him.

By the time Zack let him up for air there was a thin track of tears down Zackary's flushed cheeks, matched by the thin track of saliva from the corner of his abused mouth.

"Hnng!" Zackary gagged on Zack's cock as he forced it down his throat again.

Zack fisted his hand into his twin's hair, holding him in place. It would be so easy to come like that, to keep going until he came in Zackary's mouth, watching the expressions play across the face that was identical to his own. The sullen indignity and frustration and narrowed mako eyes that were dilated with lust all the same.

He was totally getting off on being used.

Zackary was breathing in heavy, shuddering gasps when Zack released him. Zack's own breath matched, panting hard. It was just as utterly exhilarating to be the one in control.

"You're… just staring… again," Zackary huffed.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Zack purred. "What would you like me to do?"

Not that he even needed to ask, obviously. He knew exactly what he wanted, what he'd been fantasizing about.

"Fuck me."

Zack hooked a finger under the collar around his twin's neck, grinning savagely.

There was lube on the bedside table. Of course. He prepped Zackary until he could work three slick fingers in and out of his ass. He knew exactly which way to curl his fingers inside, exactly the right amount of pressure to use to turn his twin into a trembling, growling wreck.

Zackary didn't just lie there and take it though. Zack would have been disappointed if he had. Both of them were sporting several bite marks and bruises by the time he was done.

He made the sacrifice of untying his other self's arms so he could have him on all fours. He used the cord to loop through the ring on the collar and tie it to the headboard, leashing Zackary in place.

"Fuck me," Zackary repeated. "Fuck me exactly how you like it, fuck me so deep it _hurts_."

He bit his lip hard enough to make it bleed, holding back his cries as Zack's slick cock split him open.

Zack gasped. "So fucking tight…"

He didn't give Zackary any time to get used to it. He tangled his fingers into his other self's hair, pulling his head back with every thrust as he pounded into him from behind.

Zack watched both of them in mirror, out of the corner of his eye. The sight was incredible. The two of them, practically identical, locked together in a rough, heated facsimile of making love. The expressions that played across Zackary's face; the pleasure mixed in with sublime pain of his harsh treatment; the concentration as he tried to hold himself together; surrender when he broke. The expressions that played over his own face. He looked lustful, demanding and serious for once with the concentration of remaining in control, but there was a glint of amusement in his eye as well. In both his and Zackary's. Above everything else, it was fucking fun.

He shot his load inside of his double. Zackary clenched tight around him as he hit his own peak with Zack's hand stroking tight around his cock.

Gaia, he actually looked really fucking gorgeous when he came.

Trembling and panting hard, they untangled from each other. Zack undid the collar, and they both collapsed down onto the bed, groaning.

Zack couldn't help it. He laughed.

"That was pretty awesome," he commented, still out of breath.

They looked just as good like that. Naked and satisfied, a few red marks marring both of them, tangled together amongst the rumpled and stained bedcovers.

Yeah, Zack had been right. Selfcest was totally hot.

Zack gave his arms a satisfied stretch, leaning contentedly back in the computer chair. The clock was blinking stupid-o'clock in the morning. Apparently getting way too caught up in the game was a regular side-effect.

He spun himself round on the chair, then almost jumped out of his skin upon realising that he wasn't alone anymore.

Cloud was now awake - only just, by the looks of things - and standing behind him, blinking blearily at the screen of Zack's laptop. He yawned and mumbled.

"What the fuck are you doing, Zack?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Kesskay asked: I dare you to write cloud introducing angeal to the actual sex game.**

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><p>Angeal had only ever seen Cloud at a distance. His impression had been one of small stature, ridiculously gravity-defying hair, and a very put-upon, irritated expression. The last of these was probably due to the fact that Angeal had only ever seen him when they were both in close proximity to one Zack Fair.<p>

He had gathered further intelligence through hearsay. According to his CO, Cloud Strife showed potential as a gifted swordsman and performed admirably in the written and technical aspects of his training, but was held back by his reluctance to trust and work together with the rest of his unit. According to Zack, Cloud Strife was the most adorable being on the planet and just needed a bit of encouraging to get over his shyness.

According to Sephiroth and Genesis, Cloud Strife was in possession of questionable material relating to the First Class SOLDIERs. Something which had still not been adequately explained in anything but vague hints and snippets of information gleaned from listening to his two friends bicker.

Sephiroth had suggested that Angeal ask Strife about the contents of the disc that caused so much controversy. It wasn't a bad idea.

Which was why Angeal now found himself stood in front of the infantryman's door.

Cloud opened the door and his eyes went wide. "Sir!" he saluted. His eyes darted to behind Angeal, looking for Zack. Zack was the only possible reason that a First Class SOLDIER would ever be visiting him. There was no Zack.

"At ease, Cloud."

"Yes, sir." He dropped the salute, but his eyes were still wide. "Uhm. If you don't mind me asking. Why are you here?"

Angeal heard the real question that Cloud was asking and chuckled. "You're not in trouble."

Cloud did relax a bit at that assurance.

"I've heard that you might be able to assist me. May I come in?"

Cloud had to wonder what he could possibly be able to help a SOLDIER with, but he stood aside to allow Angeal into his apartment.

His place wasn't much. It was part of a looming apartment block built by ShinRa, for ShinRa. It was close to HQ, not even further away than when he'd been in the barracks. And sure, it was small and cheap and everything was painted in that particular no-one-really-gave-a-shit-about-this-project shade of beige, but it definitely beat sharing his living space with a bunch of other grunts.

He'd never realised quite how small it was. Angeal seemed to take up half the living room.

"C-can I get you a drink or anything?" Cloud offered.

"Just a water, thank you."

It was three short steps into the kitchen to get a glass and fill it. When he returned, Cloud found that Angeal appeared to be inspecting his computer desk. Cloud placed the glass next to him, then sat himself down on the tatty, overstuffed sofa. "So, what can I help you with?"

"My friends inform me that you have a copy of a particular game featuring our likenesses."

Oh. Shit. That's what he was looking for. And the disc was in the computer, there was no way he could get it out and hide it without being noticed. _Shit!_

"I-I don't... I mean, that's not... it's just..."

Angeal gave the red-faced, stuttering infantryman an amused look. "You know what I'm talking about, don't you?"

It wasn't like there was any point in denying it. Cloud's brilliant flush told everything.

"May I play it?"

Cloud was glad he was already sat down, otherwise his legs might have given way in shock. "What?!"

"May I play it," Angeal repeated.

"Uhm. Did the cafeteria staff get the mushrooms in the risotto mixed up again?"

Angeal chuckled; that incident was pretty infamous. "You're not hallucinating."

"Oh. That's a shame."

It was clear from Cloud's dazed expression that he wouldn't be capable of formulating a coherent answer for a few minutes at least. Angeal took the liberty of seating himself at the desk and turning the computer on.

"Password?"

"...Sephiroth."

"You might want to consider changing that. You could hack into half the infantry member's files using his name."

The system booted up. It wasn't hard for Angeal to find what he was looking for; simply opening the computer menu revealed the game was there and ready to play. He started it up.

Cloud hovered nervously at Angeal's shoulder, watching as the main menu opened. "You could try it on hard mode," he suggested. "You get the best game experience doing it that way."

To be fair, it was the best game experience as far as Cloud was concerned. It also took a ridiculously long-ass time to get anywhere. Angeal would get fed up of it long before anything too incriminating popped up.

Angeal wasn't convinced in the slightest. "I think easy would be best."

Well, it had been worth a shot.

Easy was selected, and Angeal raised an eyebrow at the character selection menu before choosing to play as the computerised game version of himself. He tested out the controls, flicking the menus open and running in circles across the starting area.

"So what exactly do you do with this game?"

"It's... uhm. It's like... a dating sim, I guess? You can go around and have conversations with the other characters, and depending on what you say to them they'll either like you more or less. If they like you enough, you can go out on dates and stuff."

"That's it?"

"That's the very basics. You've also got your own stats," Cloud leant over and opened up the game menu, "here, see. You need to train and increase those to achieve mission goals and get promoted. It doesn't really matter on easy, 'cause you're already a First Class, but on hard mode you start in the infantry, and unless you get promoted into SOLDIER you'll almost never run into Sephiroth or Genesis or... or you, I guess."

Even being utterly mortified could not still Cloud's tongue when it came to talking about the game he loved so dearly.

"What do I do here?"

"You're on the SOLDIER floor. There- he just went into the training room. Sephiroth. Go talk to him."

Angeal got the hang of the game soon enough, and Cloud retreated back to the sofa to stay out of his way. And maybe because he wanted to be able to make a quick escape when the inevitable occurred. It really wasn't difficult to trigger one of the sex scenes on easy mode; that was why it was easy, after all. He had no idea how Angeal would react to that. Did he know? Did he have some idea about the true nature of the game? Or would it come as a complete surprise?

Zack talked about Angeal a lot. He said that Angeal looked scary and had a mean frown, but he was secretly a total softie. Maybe to Zack he was; nobody could resist those puppy eyes for long. That didn't mean Cloud was safe.

Angeal seemed to have settled in to the game for the long haul, and Cloud was getting antsy. And a bit hungry. He'd been about to start dinner before Angeal turned up.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Cloud offered.

"Mmhm," Angeal hummed in confirmation, his attention still very much focused on the game.

"Pasta and cheese sauce?"

"Sounds good."

Cloud left him to it.

He had got the pasta boiling and was just starting to stir the cheese sauce together when Angeal appeared in the little archway connecting the two rooms. Cloud jumped. For a big man he could be damn quiet when he wanted to be.

"I'm not imposing, am I?"

Angeal looked like he was actually concerned about it, enough so that he'd got up to come and check on Cloud. Zack would probably laugh and do a terrible impression of Angeal and say it wasn't honourable to burst into infantrymen's apartments and make them cook dinner for you.

"No, not at all, sir. It's fine. I'm sorry it's nothing any fancier, this was all I ever got to practice making in the barracks."

Angeal cocked his head questioningly. "The barracks are not supplied with cooking equipment."

"No... but there's only so much cafeteria food a guy can take. I snuck a kettle in there."

"A kettle?"

"Turns out you can boil a lot of stuff in one," Cloud said. "Boiled eggs, pasta, rice, some vegetables too..."

"In a kettle."

"It's not really easy or convenient. You have to keep reboiling it when it switches itself off, and topping up the water and stuff, and things like rice tend to froth. But yeah."

"Is that allowed?" Angeal asked, eyebrow raised. There was a hint of a smile playing at his lips, though.

"Probably not. I plead guilty to smuggling black market pasta onto ShinRa property, sir."

Angeal chuckled. "I won't hold it against you. I've had my share of cafeteria food as well." He nodded and took his leave, since the kitchen wasn't really big enough to hold the both of them at once. He figured Cloud didn't need any further distraction; the pasta was starting to boil over.

Cloud yelped and made a move to rescue his dinner.

He still wasn't exactly happy with the current situation, but he had to admit Zack had been right. Angeal was nice. It was freaking weird that he was in Cloud's apartment and had commandeered his computer, but Angeal did seem nice.

He was back to playing the game by the time Cloud emerged from the kitchen with two steaming bowls of pasta and sauce.

"Thank you, Cloud," Angeal acknowledged. It may not have been fancy, but the simple meal still seemed appetising. Angeal approved.

Cloud looked over Angeal's shoulder and blinked at the game's stats. Damn. He'd got his social link with Sephiroth that high already? "You're good at this thing," he said, indicating the computer screen with a nod of his head.

"Well, I have spent several years learning how to deal with these two. Real life is trickier, I can promise you that."

Cloud smiled. "Yeah. No convenient internet walkthroughs there."

Their meal was shared in mostly silence, broken only by the clicking of the mouse and Angeal navigated through some new exploit or other. But it was a companionable sort of silence. In fact, Cloud had almost allowed himself to relax when he heard a familiar and unwelcome strain of background music begin to play.

He almost dropped his bowl, and scrambled to save it. "Shit!" Cloud wasn't sure whether he was talking about the bowl, or his current life in general.

"What do I do in this section, Strife?"

"Shit," Cloud said again. He righted his cutlery on the coffee table. "That's... um. Maybe you should... I mean, I don't think... shit."

Angeal turned to raise an eyebrow at him. From Cloud's reaction, he had clearly stumbled upon the questionable content the game contained. It was no surprise that there was more to it. The dating sim part had so far been intricately designed, graphically pleasing, and almost rather sweet. Sephiroth would have protested the use of their image for such fannish indulgence either way, but there was nothing that would drive him to call it 'filth'.

On Cloud's part, he realised there was no way out of the situation. He was dead either way, either literally or of embarrassment, so he might as well get bonus points for telling the truth.

"After you date someone in the game, you can... uhh, take them to bed."

"I see."

"It's quite, uhm, detailed, so..."

"I'll watch."

"Okay," Cloud acquiesced. He couldn't help but stare, trying to read Angeal's expression as he watched the scene unfold. He didn't have much luck. Angeal had got a scene with himself and Sephiroth, and they were currently making out passionately, both of them shirtless. Game-Angeal pressed Sephiroth up against the wall, and Sephiroth made a noise that sounded like pure sex. They'd gone all-out on the voice actors as well.

Angeal breathed in sharply. "He didn't," he muttered, low enough that Cloud almost missed it. He suspected he was meant to have missed it.

"Sir?" Cloud finally interjected. "How can you stay so calm?"

Angeal smiled, but his gaze was still on the screen. "I did grow up with Genesis. It takes a lot to surprise me."

Until the next menu popped up, and both of Angeal's eyebrows raised. There was an option for _knifeplay _in this game? So much for the sweet dating sim. ...then again, he already knew Genesis had played at least some part in the development of this thing. He should have expected as much.

"...the stuff with Sephiroth and bondage is always really great," Cloud advised quietly.

"You're into this kind of thing?"

Cloud flushed bright red, but he nodded.

"Hmph. Zack's got himself a handful."

"Wh-what?"

The scene began to play in the background. Game-Angeal had Sephiroth by the throat, tightening leather cuffs around his wrists and ankles. Gaia, _yes_. Sephiroth always looked amazing in black leather, and this was no exception. Cloud's attention was torn between staring at the screen, tongue wetting his lips, and listening to what Angeal was saying.

"Zack's interested in you. Did you not know?"

"No... I always thought he had a crush on _you_. The way he always talks about you, and how he always gets so excited to be spending time around you, and he totally gets those puppy eyes every time he sees you..."

Angeal's expression looked about as bewildered as Cloud felt.

Cloud laughed, though his tone turned slightly strangled as he caught sight of on-screen Sephiroth being laid out on the bed, Angeal looming over him. The same Angeal who was currently sitting in front of him and getting confused over crushes. Cloud felt his groin twitch. He had to stop looking, or he was going to end up with the most awkward boner imaginable, but Gaia, how could he not look? That damn _game_.

Angeal had to have noticed his reaction. He glanced back at the screen, a flicker of... something crossing his face. There was most definitely distaste, and an unamused frown. But Angeal was still a man with needs, and the gorgeous image was stirring them. That damn game.

Easy to see why the lower ranks liked it so much. Although, some of it seemed a little... extreme. Cloud's wide eyes and parted lips were enraptured with it.

"You are into this kind of thing."

Cute, good-natured, _and _kinky. It was almost enough to make Angeal envious that his puppy had found him first.

Cloud tore his eyes away. "I'm sorry, sir!"

Game-Sephiroth's scream rang out as game-Angeal shoved roughly into him, turned tinny by the low-quality speakers but still inherently sexual. Angeal growled once and hit the power button. The screen went black.

"That's quite enough of that."

"I'm sorry," Cloud repeated, though it wasn't clear what he was apologising for. The game? Getting turned on by it? Angeal couldn't be mad at him for either of those things, though he would be having _words_ with Genesis for condoning the development of this thing. Angeal was willing to turn a blind eye to much of their fandoms activities, but Genesis had gone too far in giving them the amount of information he must have done to have the game be as accurate as it was.

That scene with himself and Sephiroth... was remarkably similar to something that had actually occurred. Too similar. And Genesis had been there watching.

Angeal stood abruptly and Cloud jumped back, startled. SOLDIERs moved insanely fast. "Thank you for your help, Cloud."

Cloud's eyes quickly flicked back up to Angeal's face. The sudden change in position had granted him an eyeful of the bulge in the front of Angeal's combat trousers, which he was not staring at, no way, absolutely not. It had just been _there_, right in his face. No, bad turn of phrase. Although... he wouldn't have minded if it was in his face.

He took a breath. He had sex on his mind now, and it was totally inappropriate to be thinking about the First Class SOLDIER that way. That damn game.

Angeal's mouth was set into a hard line, but he spared a smile for the infantryman. "Next time Zack and myself are free, you are welcome to join the both of us. There's a burger joint below the plate that Zack is fond of."

Cloud's mouth opened and closed a couple of times. He'd wasn't dead, and he'd just been invited to hang out with a First Class. He settled on vigorous nodding.

"Good night, Cloud. Thank you for the meal."

"Good night, sir."

Angeal left the apartment enlightened, and finally comprehending Sephiroth's reaction to the disc he had found. Genesis was due a lecture on boundaries. And honour.

And then maybe he would borrow Genesis' copy of the game.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** I wish FFnet allowed links. Because I have _reference images_ for what Zack is wearing. But alas.

This site keeps eating my line break, ugh.

**Warnings:** Imaginary puppy play, Genesis' mouth.

* * *

><p>Genesis shot Angeal a look of half-hearted distaste over the top of his book. How could he actually be working? It was late Friday afternoon, pleasantly warm, with orange sunlight streaming low through the window. It was a moment made for laziness, and only laziness.<p>

And yet Angeal was still sitting there, head bent over his desk, furiously scrawling on a sheet of paper.

"Angeal, stop working so hard," Genesis sighed. "You're giving me a headache just watching you."

"Hn." Angeal gave him no further acknowledgement.

Genesis rolled his eyes and returned to his reading. He got through several more pages before glancing up again.

Angeal was still frowning at his work with a look of intense concentration. He paused to think, absently tapping the end of his pen against his lips, then went back to drawing.

Drawing. Not writing. He wasn't working on paperwork at all, and Genesis found his interest perked significantly. "What are you doing?"

Angeal ran a critical eye over his creation and added a few more lines. "Does the game support additional original content?" he asked.

"Pardon?"

"That... game of yours. Does it support these 'mods'?"

Genesis blinked, then a slow smirk spread across his face. "It's hardly _my_ game. Why do you ask?"

Angeal spun the page around and pushed it to the other side of the desk. Genesis snatched it up. After a moment of inspection, he let out a guffaw of delight.

"Can you do it?"

"You do know there is already an option for-"

"I want this in particular."

Genesis carefully folded the drawing and tucked it away. "Well, then," he purred. "I'm sure I've got some old contacts who would be happy to help."

* * *

><p>Angeal was not convinced that involving Genesis had been the wisest idea. It was nothing overt, just little smirks and knowing looks that were beginning to get tiresome. And that time Genesis had suddenly come to watch him train with Zack. He never said a word, just leant against the wall with his arms crossed and a smug smile plastered on his face.<p>

"Uhh. What's Genesis doing here?" Zack had asked, a good half hour into their awkward session.

"Being a dick," was Angeal's flat reply.

Still, Genesis was true to his word. A week later he let himself into Angeal's apartment, wielding a USB stick like it was the gift of the goddess.

"Here it is, Angeal!" he announced with a dramatic flourish. "Your very own mod to use to your perverted heart's content."

Angeal frowned. Genesis was a fine one to talk. "I'm not a pervert."

"I have a file on here that says otherwise."

"It's just a mask. Hardly perverted, especially compared to some of the other things that _you_ approved for that game."

Genesis chuckled. "I would almost believe you, if you hadn't drawn it being worn by a certain adorable young SOLDER young already constantly refer to as your 'puppy'."

Angeal narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, relax. I'm not making a move. I'll admit that your student is a fine piece of ass, but he's too boisterous for my tastes. I'll let you finish training him first."

"Fine," Angeal sighed. "Thank you for the delivery."

Genesis gave him a look that was absolutely affronted. "Delivery? I think not. I will, of course, be needing to see it in action."

Genesis was fluent in Angeal's expressions. He had an entire language of frowns. There was the lecturing frown; the frown of concentration; the frown when he was perplexed and uncertain; the frown where he was secretly amused but didn't want to admit it. The frown that was accompanied by a soft, slow shake of the head, that meant 'I don't understand you and I don't think I ever will, but I love you anyway'.

The particular frown he was wearing now was resigned, a mix of the 'I do not approve of what you're doing' frown and 'but I know I can't stop you'.

Genesis pressed a soft kiss to the corner of Angeal's mouth. "Let's play. Shall we?"

Angeal let out a heavy breath, but he was shaking his head fondly. Genesis had a bad habit of getting his way. "Fine. Why not."

He sat down at his desk, and Genesis leant against his shoulders from behind.

"Here. Go to wherever you installed the game files to and open up the items folder. Copy the files from the USB into there. I presume you've still got that spare copy of the disc I loaned you?"

Angeal did as he was directed. "You have more than one copy?"

"Well, of course. Especially since Sephiroth still seems to have that penchant for snapping the things."

"Can you blame him?"

Genesis waved a dismissive hand. "He just hasn't learned to appreciate the true beauty of such a masterpiece yet. I'll convince him."

"Mmhm. Do try not to cause too much damage with that, please."

"You wound me, Angeal."

"I'm more concerned about Sephiroth wounding you."

Genesis just smiled. Like he'd turn down an excuse for a decent spar with Sephiroth. "I promise we won't do any wounding in the apartment this time. Hurry up and play already."

Angeal hovered over the menu. "Do I need to start a new game?"

"No, the mod should work fine with any existing save files. It's flagged to automatically add itself to Zack's inventory." Angeal shot him a look, and Genesis huffed a laugh. "Oh, come on. Don't even try and deny that's what you wanted it for."

Angeal opened up his most recent save. Zack's NPC wasn't hard to find. Within working hours (and often outside them as well) he almost inevitably turned up in the training room, or out on the SOLDIER floor doing squats if any of the Firsts had kicked him out of there.

"You maxed out his social link already?" Genesis commented. "That takes dedication."

"Shut up, Gen."

Genesis' smirk grew wider with every click Angeal made. He invited Zack back to his place. And there it was, in Zack's inventory just as Genesis had promised.

"I took the liberty of telling them to add a few extra accessories for you," Genesis said. "Some are new, a couple are updated versions of existing items. They match the mask you made now."

"How... thoughtful of you."

Angeal went through the inventory and equipped them. The result was breathtaking.

Zack was stripped down to his underwear, a tight-fitting black jockstrap that revealed the short little butt-plug tail. It was matching black and curved upwards, waving happily as Zack wriggled. There was a harness round his shoulders and the top of his chest, all soft leather and metal rings, that only seemed to emphasis his perked nipples. His hands were bound with more of the leather and straps that matched the collar around his neck.

And the mask. The mask had come out perfectly. It covered the top two thirds of Zack's face, shaped in the front to form a dog's muzzle. The straps vanished into Zack's wild hair, the black ears perking up as if they were naturally a part of him. The look suited him.

Angeal swallowed and initiated the pet play sequence.

Zack's tongue lolled from his grinning mouth as he knelt as Angeal's feet, nuzzling his head against his knee. Angeal stared at the screen, captivated. There was a list of commands on the sidebar menu; he instructed Zack to roll over. Zack wuffed softly and rolled onto his back, pawing at the air.

It was the most adorable thing he had ever seen. Angeal could practically feel his heart swell.

He went through every command on the list. Multiple times.

Genesis got bored of this very quickly. "Are you just going to play with your pet all day?" he questioned, rolling his eyes. "Fuck him already."

"No, this is fine."

"Zack's getting horny," Genesis pointed out.

"Why is there even a stat for that?" Angeal asked, giving Genesis an accusatory look.

"Oh, please. It's not like I designed the whole game. I just gave them a few nudges in the right direction. And a bit of funding. Why do you assume everything is my fault?"

"It usually is."

Genesis sighed theatrically as Angeal went straight back to giving Zack commands. Then he stood up a little straighter. Had Angeal been paying attention, he would have seen a spark of mischief light Genesis' eyes.

"It seems a shame, though," he began conversationally, dangerously.

"What does?" Angeal was too distracted to even notice.

"His ass looks fabulous with that little tail in. But it would look so much better with your huge cock stretching it open."

Angeal made a short choked noise. "Was that really necessary, Genesis?"

Genesis grinned. "Yes. You know he'd look good getting fucked. He'd make those pained little yipping noises every time you slammed into him. And he'd be so hot and tight inside, trembling around your dick."

"Stop it."

"So obedient for you. You could fuck his face, finally shut up that big mouth of his. Watch his eyes glaze over with lust, have him writhing underneath you."

"_Genesis_."

Genesis draped himself over Angeal's back, letting his words ghost against his neck. "You do know I'm not talking about the game, Angeal?"

Angeal abruptly stood up and shoved Genesis off. Genesis just laughed.

"Alright. I think it's time for you to go home. Shouldn't you be annoying Sephiroth?"

"Why not, though? It's obvious you're totally into your little puppy."

Angeal took Genesis by the scruff of the neck, in what was colloquially known as the 'puppy grip' whenever he did it to Zack. Genesis would normally have been offended to be treated such a way, but he was having so much fun needling Angeal that he barely even noticed.

"I bet he's into you as well. It would be like something out of his wildest wet dreams."

"I don't think so. He likes his friend, the little blond."

"Oh, Cloud? He's cute too. Invite him for a threesome, then everyone's happy."

"Genesis?"

Genesis fluttered his eyelashes. "Yes, Angeal?"

"I'm throwing you out now." And Angeal did.

Genesis stared at the closed door. The _nerve!_ Angeal was probably going ahead and fucking his puppy in the game now that Genesis wasn't there to watch. And jacking off while doing it. To think Genesis had been going to lend him a hand!

Still. A slow smile spread across Genesis' face. He had certainly planted the seeds of possibility in Angeal's mind. With any luck, he'd have those mental images burnt into his mind for the whole night. Maybe longer.

His work here was done.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** This chapter is _almost_ sfw... there's just a paragraph or two describe in-game sexings, nothing detailed. Very brief mention of bondage and flogging, though if you blink you'll probably miss it.

In this chapter, Sephiroth finally, reluctantly, gets into the game.

This whole verse is pretty much on crack, but I guess you already knew that, right? Just go with it, it's fun.

* * *

><p>Genesis was preparing for <em>war<em>.

This wasn't just about pride anymore, or about being the best. There was far most at stake than his ego - and for Genesis to admit that even to himself was something almost unheard of. Sparring was supposed to be a fair fight. War, on the other hand, was never fair.

So he felt perfectly justified in stocking up with every dirty, underhanded trick he could think of.

Sephiroth would, inevitably, have a ribbon equipped, so status effects were out. Genesis made sure to keep and Stop and Poison materia on him anyway, just in case. He stocked up on the highest level battle items he had; Fire Veils, Swift Bolts, Ice Crystals, M-tentacles, Dragon Scales, even some of the 8-inch Cannons he was not meant to have but had 'borrowed' off the Weapons department.

He polished Rapier to a perfect shine, put on his best coat and boots, preened his hair until it flicked out just how it should. He squarely faced the door.

Angeal sighed. "Are you sparring with Sephiroth again?"

"This is about far more than just a spar," Genesis denied haughtily.

Angeal just shook his head; he knew that trying to dissuade Genesis would achieve nothing. "Try not to destroy anything."

It was a futile hope, really. Genesis smirked the whole way to the VR rooms.

* * *

><p>Sephiroth deflected every strike Genesis made. Their swords clashed again and again, the metallic ring loud enough to make their ears hurt.<p>

Genesis snarled in defiance and launched himself into the air.

They were fighting in Midgar this time, at the very top of the ShinRa HQ building. There was an emergency helipad up here, and Genesis made use of the exciting toys available to play with in such a location. He launched a Fire3 spell that went over Sephiroth's head.

Sephiroth gave him a smirk; that hadn't even been close to hitting him.

Genesis hadn't been aiming for Sephiroth. The helicopter behind him flipped over and exploded; Sephiroth jumped clear of the blast with only a small huff of disapproval.

Their swords met and sparks flew.

Genesis waited for an opening. All he needed was one moment, the slightest hesitation. When the second helicopter exploded unexpectedly, triggered by the first blast, Sephiroth flinched.

Genesis threw everything he had at him. Every single item he had collected. Fire spells, thunder, ice, Aqualung, pure delicious explosives. He couldn't even see Sephiroth anymore, lost somewhere amidst the chaos of smoke and embers and crackling ice, but Genesis kept it up. He added a few spells of his own for good measure.

He stumbled, panting. Perhaps he'd overdone using his own materia; his MP had dropped significantly within just half a minute.

No sign of Sephiroth.

Genesis waited for the smoke and debris to clear. And when it did, Sephiroth was there, standing amongst the wreckage. The maelstrom had taken it's toll, though. He wasn't perfect and unaffected. He was bruised and bloody and mottled with specks of ash.

He swayed and dropped to one knee. Genesis put Rapier to his throat and Sephiroth glared up at him, murderous.

"I win," Genesis proclaimed softly.

Sephiroth shoved him away. He stood and brushed himself down, all the damage melting away as he cast a Cure3. His eyes flashed darkly with irritation. "We do not use battle items in a sparring match."

"Says who?" Genesis ended the simulation, and Midgar disintegrated into data around them. He folded his arms. Smirking was not going to help his cause, but _by the goddess_ he wanted to gloat. "No one ever set out any rules."

"That may be true, but it was no test of strength or skill. You cannot claim to be better than me just because you won this way."

Genesis waved a dismissive hand. "I didn't need to prove I was better than you. Not this time. I just needed to _win_." He gave up on trying to hide his smirk. The grin he gave Sephiroth was almost feral. "You know why."

"No," Sephiroth stated.

"It was a deal."

"It was a ridiculous deal."

"If I win the match, you would give the game a chance."

Sephiroth snorted. He started towards the door, and Genesis bristled like an enraged peacock.

Genesis shoved his way in front of Sephiroth, eyes dangerously bright. "I won. You will_ honour_ our deal, won't you, Sephiroth? I'm sure Angeal would have words to say if you didn't."

"I'm sure Angeal would have words to say about you and your ridiculous game," Sephiroth fired back.

Genesis smiled. Oh yes, he had the upper hand now. "Angeal happens to be _very fond _of my 'ridiculous game'. He had me make him a customized mod for it, you know."

That made Sephiroth pause. Even Angeal, of all people... he sighed and shook his head.

"So. Sit." Genesis pointed Sephiroth towards the desk. The area outside the training room was lined with computers and panels for monitoring the VR program and its occupants performance, but nestled amongst them was a standard issue ShinRa laptop.

Good. Sephiroth wouldn't feel so bad when he tore the thing to pieces.

"_Sit,_" Genesis insisted dangerously.

The sooner they got this idiocy over with, the sooner he could go and kill something. Sephiroth sat.

Genesis quickly booted the laptop up out of its sleep mode, revealing the game's main menu already running and ready to begin.

That irritated Sephiroth more than he cared to admit. Genesis had been so sure of winning, just because he knew Sephiroth would not be expecting him to start throwing high-level battle items into their fight. It was irritating because he should have known Genesis would try something underhanded. He should have been ready for anything. He did not have the luxury of a fair fight on the battlefield, after all. He had been _careless_. And now he had to suffer for his failings.

Geneis loaded one of the existing save files he had prepared for demonstration.

Sephiroth twitched as the computer rendered versions of himself, Genesis, and Angeal appeared on the screen. They were in what appeared to be Genesis' apartment. And they were naked. Admittedly gorgeous, but naked. And engaged in some rather lewd acts.

He didn't even need to see any more than that.

Sephiroth's mouth turned up into a grimace of distaste. "I don't see what you hoped to achieve here, Genesis. The only point you have proved is my own. This 'game' is nothing but filth."

"Excuse you. This is _art_."

"It's pornography."

"Well, yes. Why can't it be both?"

"Genesis_,_" Sephiroth said in warning, in that emotionless tone that indicated he was only just holding on to self-control. Things were going to get broken. "Tell me why this game even exists."

"Wish fulfilment, Sephiroth. Fantasy," Genesis said grandly.

"Why is it necessary for me to be in these 'fantasies'?"

"It's going to happen anyway, and you know it. So why not embrace it. Enjoy it."

"Do you get off on that?" Sephiroth accused, the disgust clear in his voice. "Knowing that there are thousands of people out there seeing you that way?"

"Don't you? Think of the power we have over them. With those ideas planted in their minds, it would barely take a smile to bring them to their knees."

"I have Masamune to do that."

Genesis smirked, resisting the urge to make a double entendre regarding swords. "The love-"

"Lust," Sephiroth interjected.

"-of the people is a powerful tool, Sephiroth. As long as we remain in their minds, as they dedicate their energy to us, as we influence them...are we not immortal?"

Sephiroth snorted. "And this is how you would have them remember your immortal self?" he questioned with a note of mocking.

"Any publicity is good publicity."

"We are SOLDIERs. We are meant to be _respected_, not treated like celebrities to be gossiped and gawked over and used as sex symbols."

Genesis rolled his eyes. He happened to _enjoy_ being a celebrity.

He toyed around with the laptop again, exiting the scene and loading a new file. Arguing with Sephiroth would get nowhere, he knew from experience. From _lots_ of experience. It was exasperating, with both of them too stubborn to ever give up ground. But the quickest shortcut to a man's heart was by his dick... it was just a matter of pressing the right buttons. A different tactic was called for.

Sephiroth appeared about to argue again, but he paused, eyes widening. Then they narrowed again. The computer rendering of himself was on screen again, but this time there was someone else with him. Someone with blond hair and blue eyes, small and lean and with a pretty face that contorted in pleasure as Sephiroth pounded between his legs.

"Wish fulfilment, see," Genesis repeated with a soft smirk that Sephiroth didn't notice. "You can create whoever you want in the game."

The little trooper was trembling. His wrist and ankles were bound with leather, the dark material a delicious contrast to his pale skin. His legs were in the air, held apart by a spreader bar. There were bruises and bite marks all over his neck and chest and thighs, and bright red lines left by the sting of a flogger.

"He's a friend of Zack's, right? I've seen you looking. And he does look good, doesn't he? Just imagine him all tied up and begging for your cock..."

Sephiroth growled. "That is _enough_, Genesis." He slammed the laptop closed... though not hard enough to damage it.

Genesis laughed. Sephiroth would come around, just as Angeal had. He had long since mastered the art of needling his friends, and he knew it. And the game was a stroke of brilliance. Whether Sephiroth liked it or not, that was the truth.

"I've seen your damn game. May I leave now?" It was not a question so much as a heavily pointed order to let him leave.

Genesis let out an exaggerated sigh. "Oh, I suppose so."

Sephiroth stood up and scooped the laptop under his arm. Genesis' eyebrows raised to the ceiling.

"I will be taking this with me to destroy it."

Genesis smiled slowly. "Of course you will."

* * *

><p>"Genesis, have you seen Sephiroth?"<p>

Genesis paused in the middle of casting a Fire3 spell, the embers bursting like sparks as they drifted from his hand. It was probably for the best. The target he'd been casting at was looking distinctly charred, despite being supposedly materia resistant.

"No. Should I have?" he replied dismissively, not paying particular heed to the concern in Angeal's voice. Sephiroth was a big boy now, he could take care of himself.

"I haven't seem him for a while, and he hasn't had any missions or lab appointment scheduled."

"Why is this any concern of mine?"

Angeal gave him a hard stare. "Because he vanished shortly after that sparring match with _you_."

"Well, it must be hard for him to have lost," Genesis smirked. He basked in the self-indulgent thought of Sephiroth being such a sore loser he couldn't bear to face either of them at all now.

"Stop preening. I'm worried."

Genesis sighed. "Oh, fine. The last time I saw him he was in his office, but that was the day before yesterday. I haven't seen him enter or leave since, but it's not like I've been keeping a watch."

Angeal made a thoughtful noise and started in the direction of Sephiroth's office. Genesis followed him. Tossing spells at a target that didn't fight back was boring anyway. And if they found Sephiroth, he could quietly gloat some more.

"Locked," was Angeal's assessment when they reached door. Knocking didn't get any response.

"Oh, please." Genesis leant over and typed an override code into the keypad. The light on the door flashed green, then it hissed and slid open for them.

Angeal frowned. Did he want to know how Genesis knew that code? Probably not. He doubted his methods would have been honourable.

Fortunately, Angeal was distracted from his disapproval by the sight the door revealed. "What the..."

Sephiroth was still in the office after all, and from the looks of things, he had been there the whole time. There were papers splayed out all across his usually highly organised desk, covered with chicken-scratch handwriting and rings from coffee mugs. The very many coffee mugs that outnumbered Sephiroth twenty to one.

Sephiroth himself was slumped over his desk with his head resting on the keyboard of the still-humming laptop, either unconscious or simply deeply asleep. Probably the latter, judging from the dark rings around his eyes. Had he really been awake and working himself to exhaustion this whole time? What could possibly be so important?

Genesis had no qualms in nosily poking around the desk. Sephiroth didn't even stir.

Angeal picked up one of the sheets of paper that Sephiroth had been working on. It was full of initials and numbered options and arrows and calculations that didn't make sense. "What is all this?"

Genesis slowly lit up. It started with raised eyebrows and a quizzical look, then turned into a smile that grew wider and wider as comprehension dawned. He checked the laptop and almost let out a shriek of delight.

"He actually did it... this is amazing!"

"What is?"

"A fivesome. That's supposed to be impossible!"

"..._what?!_"

"See, the game is configured to prevent it happening. You need to have a social link of a certain value before you're able to initiate a sex scene with any of the characters, right? If you do something they don't like, the social link value decreases. There's a jealously clause where trying to initiate sex with multiple characters at once will cause a decrease, and the effect compounds with the amount of characters involved. But there's also other mechanics, like each of the NPC character's social links with each other. If they have a high social value, the jealously decrease will be less."

Angeal was looking bewildered. "This is about that game?"

"Threesomes aren't too tough, you just have to make sure your social link with both the characters you're trying to bang is high enough. Foursomes are notoriously tricky. A fivesome... the jealously decrease multiplied by four should drop all social links too low to initiate the sex scene, it should be impossible."

Slow understanding, mixed with a little bit of horror, crept onto Angeal's face. He stared at the scrawled page of writing that he had taken from the desk in a new light.

"He calculated the exact values for every single character, the variance in the jealousy clause, the difference that the status boosting items could make. It must have taken forever to get exactly right. This is _genius._"

"...did it work?" Angeal couldn't help but ask. Call it morbid curiosity.

Genesis just gestured to the laptop screen, where the game was idling. The image behind the pause message showed that Sephiroth had, in fact, been successful. Five of them. Angeal, Genesis, Sephiroth, Zack, and that little trooper he'd met. Cloud. How did Sephiroth even know about Cloud? How did he know him well enough to apparently create a computerised copy of him in the game? Angeal frowned.

But it was impossible not to admit it. They made a very pretty picture all curled up together naked on the bed, every one of them looking thoroughly ravaged and exhausted. The scene that must have played out prior to that... it would have been a sight to see, there was no doubt about that. Angeal shifted a little.

"_Genius_," Genesis repeated with glee. "I need a copy of this save file." He leant over the laptop as best he could, only to suddenly freeze as a hand wrapped around his throat.

"What are you doing in my office," Sephiroth glowered groggily.

Genesis gave him a delicate smile. "Did I mention you were a genius?"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Kesskay gave me a list of prompts for future chapters in sex game verse. The prompt/summary for this chapter was "Cloud asks if Zack knows if one particular scene is physically possible. They recruit Angeal to see if it is."

Zack is a beautiful moron and thinks that everything is hilarious. It kind of is.

Disclaimer: I don't know how sex positions work.

* * *

><p>Zack was upside down on the sofa, intently focused on the handheld video game he was playing, when Cloud knocked and walked into his apartment.<p>

"Heya, Cloudy!" he greeted, not daring to look away from his screen. The second he did, he'd start losing points, and he was doing so well on the ultimate level this time.

Cloud knew better than to interrupt. He hovered until Zack was done.

With a whoop of triumph, Zack cut of the victory fanfare and shut the device. He righted himself on the sofa and patted the spot next to him. "What's up?" he asked. He was still grinning, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

Cloud hesitated momentarily, but accepted the invitation. He sank significantly into the cushions of Zack's old and overly squishy sofa. "Why d'you assume something's up?"

"You knocked," Zack pointed out.

"So?"

"I thought I finally trained you out of knocking."

"Most people appreciate the warning before someone comes barging into their place," Cloud said dryly.

"But you haven't knocked for weeks. You're starting to get shy again, which means something's up."

Cloud stared at him. "I'm not... I mean, it's nothing really... how do you _do _that?"

Zack grinned and leant back. "You're my friend. It's my job to know these things." He had a packet of cheesy twists on the floor next to him, for snacking purposes during his gaming not-quite-marathon. He offered them to Cloud. "Soooo. What's up?"

Cloud absently took one of the cheese twists. "I have a question."

"Uh huh," Zack encouraged.

"About that game."

"A game or _the_ game?"

"The game," Cloud confirmed. "You know the one I mean."

Zack was back to grinning again. "Ohh, I get it. There's some pretty kinky shit in there. I hadn't even heard of half the things in that until I got to Midgar. All those toys, and the stuff they do with the ropes, man! And I'd never thought that people could actually _enjoy_ pain like that. It is kinda hard to get your head around. Nibelheim must be just as bad as Gongaga for sex ed, right? You want me to explain some stuff?"

Cloud snorted and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right. I've know about that kinda stuff was since I was thirteen. I mean, I didn't really know that there was a name for it, but duh."

Zack stared at him for long enough that Cloud started to go a little pink. He... had probably given away more than he meant to, saying that. Shit. With no one to talk to that stuff about in Nibelheim and - Zack was right - the extremely lacking sex ed there, it had taken Cloud longer than he would care to admit to realise that there were people who _weren't_ into bondage and painplay and all those amazing kinks in the game. He still forgot it sometimes.

"A-anyway! That wasn't what I wanted to ask. It's just... usually the game is pretty high quality and realistic, right?"

"Right," Zack agreed slowly.

"But then I got this." Cloud fished around in his pocket for his PHS. "Here, I took a screenshot. And I know it's really, really dumb, but it's just been annoying the hell out me for some reason. Is this even physically possible?"

The screen displayed an image from the game. Three men, Sephiroth, Genesis, and Cloud's computerised version of himself. They were- Zack blinked. They were in a position that resembled an upturned triangle. Sephiroth leant against the wall at a sloped angle. Genesis had his legs wrapped around Sephiroth's waist, intimately joined to him. Which was pretty ordinary, really, except that they were leant apart to make room for Cloud's avatar, who was balanced between them, midair, with his cock in Sephiroth's mouth and his lips crushed against Genesis'.

Zack snorted, then hid his face behind his hand. This was completely ineffective, and he immediately fell about laughing.

"I can't believe... hahaha... Gaia, _that's _what you were worried about?"

Cloud scowled at him. "Shut up! I was just curious."

Zack's gale of laughter continued.

"That's it. I'm never coming to you with questions again."

Zack hiccuped helplessly, gradually quietening down into weak chuckles. "Hahaha... haha, ahh. Sorry." He smirked and almost lost it again. He ended up coughing instead. "So, uh. You and Seph and Gen, huh?"

"It's just a game," Cloud said evasively, shoving the PHS back into his pocket. He knew better than to admit to having a crush. "What do _you_ do with it?"

"Point taken," Zack grinned.

"So. Is it possible? I can't believe they'd throw something like that into the game if it couldn't be done, but it just seems so... weird."

"Hmm. Sorry, Cloudy, I really don't know. It's not like I've tried it." Zack paused, then his eyes lit up. "Only one way to find out! We need to test it."

"_What?"_ Cloud choked. He was turning slightly pink again, damn it.

"Well, sure. I mean, just the position. With clothes on. Not- never mind. But we'll need someone else to join in too."

"No. Just no, Zack."

But Zack had latched onto the idea, and he turned into an unstoppable flurry of excitement. Discarding his game and the cheesy twists, he stood up and pulled Cloud to his feet. "C'mon, let's go!"

"Where?" Cloud asked, with a sinking feeling of dread.

"Angeal's place!"

"Zack!" Cloud hissed in protest. "You can't bother him with something like this!"

"Why not? He's my mentor. He said to ask him if I ever need to know anything."

"I'm pretty sure he didn't intend that to mean asking him about sex positions."

Zack sniggered. "He won't mind."

"Yes, he will."

"Trust me," Zack said, almost seriously this time. "He _won't_ mind. Not if it's you."

Cloud had the rest of the journey up to the SOLDIER's quarters to figure out what _that_ meant.

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><p>To Angeal's credit, he didn't kick the both of them out of his apartment. He didn't even look that surprised, just slowly raised an eyebrow higher and higher as Zack went through his explanation.<p>

"So, the only way we're only gonna know is by testing it out," Zack concluded.

Angeal shook his head in fond exasperation.

"Cloud! Show Angeal the screenshot. It's hard to describe the position in words."

Cloud had been doing his best to not get involved. He was stood behind Zack, close to hiding, significantly embarrassed and rather wishing he could vanish into the ground. He mouthed the words 'I'm so sorry' to Angeal as he handed the PHS over to Zack.

Angeal gave Cloud a reassuring smile in return.

"Ah, here it is!" Zack thrust the PHS, now with the offending screenshot displayed, into Angeal's face.

Angeal paused, taking a moment to absorb the image, then frowned. "I see. That does seem... implausible."

"So, can we try it?"

"Puppy-" Angeal choked.

"With clothes on, I mean. I'm not saying we should- oh, come on! Stop giving me that look! You know what I meant."

"We know what you mean, it's just a really dumb idea," Cloud put in dryly.

"Hey, you were to one who asked about it in the first place!"

"And believe me, I regret it."

"Well, I don't see why not," Angeal interrupted.

Two pairs of eyes turned to stare at him. "Seriously?" Zack crowed.

"I can understand Cloud's curiosity. I am quite intrigued to see if it's plausible myself now. There is no harm."

"There might be harm if you drop me on my head," Cloud pointed out.

"Aw, c'mon, Cloudy, we wouldn't do that. You're dealing with two SOLDIERs here! You're in safe hands. Right, Angeal?"

Angeal didn't answer. He had moved across to the other side of the living room, here he was rearranging the furniture. Zack blinked, watching curiously as Angeal pulled out the sofa and rearranged it to stick out from the wall at a ninety degree angle.

"We can lean against the wall here," he suggested, standing with his back to the area he was indicating, right next to the extruding sofa. "If Cloud feels in danger of falling, he can shift to the side and land on the sofa without fear of injury."

"Perfect!" Zack grinned. He grabbed Cloud's hand and led him over to join Angeal. "Alright, how are we doing this? I guess Cloud's on top, since he's the lightest. You wanna be our main support, 'Geal?"

Angeal nodded. "That seems the best arrangement." He leaned back against the wall, bracing himself there. With good reason. With a whoop of enthusiasm, Zack launched himself at Angeal. He crashed into the larger man and wrapped his arms and legs around him, clinging like a limpet.

"Down, puppy," Angeal said, huffing a laugh.

Zack adjusted his legs around Angeal's waist and let go with his hands. He leaned out away from him, far enough that he was almost horizontal in the air, glancing upside-down at Cloud. "This how it went? Lemme see the reference picture again."

"Um. Yeah. That looks fine. Maybe not quite so low with the leaning back?"

Zack stuck his tongue out. "I know, but this is the only way I can look at you at the moment. Your turn now, Cloud."

Cloud regretted his life choices so much. But it would be even more awkward if he bailed now and left the two of them like that. He got as far as standing on the sofa before getting stuck. "How am I supposed to do this, exactly?"

"Climb on Angeal!"

Cloud glanced hesitantly to Angeal, who looked mostly resigned to his fate, and just a little bit amused as well.

"Go ahead," Angeal offered.

"Start by kneeling on his shoulders, then you can get into the final position from there," Zack suggested.

Cloud closed his eyes and whispered a short farewell to his dignity. Angeal offered an arm for Cloud to boost himself off, which did make things a lot easier. He manage to get up onto Angeal's shoulders with only a minimum of clambering and a few repeated apologies.

"Okay, now you gotta lean forward and meet me," Zack directed.

Cloud look dubious. Zack looked a lot further away from up here. It wasn't even that that was the problem, though. He would have to be leaning slightly downwards, rather than straight across like a bridge, and gravity was concerning him. If he started leaning, he wouldn't be able to stop.

Zack, as indomitable as ever, was still grinning, vastly entertained by the whole thing. "I'll catch you," he offered, hands out ready.

"I... can't really lean forward from here."

"Oh, right. Yeah, you need to be in front of Angeal's face. The front of your thighs should be against his shoulders, and your knees and shins will have to brace against the wall or something."

"Zack!" Cloud hissed. "Angeal doesn't want my ass in his face like that!"

"Why not? It's a nice ass."

"That is not... _Zack!_"

"Actually, I believe Zack does have a point this time," Angeal said. "It is a nice ass."

Cloud's protests died on his tongue, turning into splutters. He gaped for a few moments then, realising that he wasn't ever going to have a comeback to that, promptly snapped his mouth shut.

Zack was smirking. "Told ya he wouldn't mind."

"Fine," Cloud sighed, blushing furiously but trying to pretend he wasn't. The sooner they got this over with, the sooner he could pretend it had never happened.

Trying to manoeuvre into the position Zack had described was even more awkward than getting up onto Angeal's shoulders in the first place.

Generally, Cloud was pretty comfortable around Angeal now. After their first meeting in Cloud's apartment, Angeal had made good on his invitation to have Cloud join him and Zack for a meal out. For several meals out. And then a lot more meals in, hosted at either Angeal's or Zack's apartments and accompanied by movies and games and pleasant conversation. They'd even been round to Cloud's a couple of times, but his tiny little apartment really wasn't big enough for all of them. There was only room for two on his sofa. Cloud had ended up having to sit in Zack's lap, at Zack's insistence, only to end up with Angeal instead when Zack complained of his legs going dead halfway through the movie.

So he considered himself on good terms, maybe even friends, with Angeal. That did not mean he was on good enough terms with him to be shoving his crotch in the Commander's face.

Unfortunately, that was inevitable. It was the whole point of the position, after all. Cloud managed to lower himself down to meet Zack, only losing to gravity for the last foot. Zack caught him with a grin.

"This is awkward," Cloud noted. He shifted so his forearms were braced on Zack's shoulders, giving him just enough leverage to remain a total of two inches away from Zack's face. Which was far too close. It would only take the slightest tilt on his head for their lips to meet. They could kiss like this. Cloud forgot to breathe for a moment.

"Hey, it works though!" Zack declared triumphantly, as though he was oblivious to how close their lips were.

"I doubt it would be sustainable for an ordinary person," Angeal said. He sounded slightly muffled, and Cloud blushed all over again upon thinking of the reason for that. "But with SOLDIER enhancements it is not too difficult to hold the weight of two people."

"Sure. But this is just holding, right?" Zack clarified. "In the game it was for sex. You'd have to take into account movement and stuff. Like..."

To Cloud's horror, Zack began to bounce up and down against Angeal.

"Zack!" Cloud yelped. He was already perched precariously in midair, he did not want half of his support to be jerking around like that. Not to mention _what_ he was pretending to do... Gaia, did Zack seriously have no sense of self-consciousness at all?

That wasn't even the worst of it. They were in a sex position. A really stupid one, and it was awkward and embarrassing and all, but... they were in a sex position. One which Cloud, against all better judgement and despite the absurdity, might have gotten off to when it had come up in the context of the game. Maybe. Just a little. And now he was actually in that position, held between two SOLDIERs. It was a ridiculous, precarious position, but at the same time kind of exhilarating to trust them that way.

So far, he'd been doing a very good job of not thinking about any of that. Until now.

Bouncing like that wasn't exactly the easiest thing for Zack to do, holding both his own weight and Cloud's, and with very little leverage. His eyebrows began to furrow just slightly in concentration, and he let out little gasps of exertion that Cloud could taste against his own lips. It looked... it looked like a sex face.

And now Cloud was thinking about _everything_ in that context. Shit. There was no way Angeal wouldn't notice if he started getting hard like this.

"Alright! Point made, put me down," Cloud demanded, an edge of desperation in his voice. "This is the _stupidest _position anyone's ever come up with."

Zack snorted, then laughed. An uncontrollable, full-body laugh. This was an even worse thing to do under the circumstances. Not only did Cloud struggle to keep his balance when Zack's shoulders were shaking, but now Zack was struggling to keep his grip around Angeal's waist.

Zack slipped first. He fell backwards, back hitting the carpet. Cloud landed on top of him, brought down hard by a good six foot of gravity. He'd managed to pull Angeal off balance as well as he fell. Angeal survived better, managing to catch himself on his hands as he stumbled, but he still ended up half beside and half sprawled over the other two.

"Ow!" Zack gasped, the weight of one and a half men suddenly dropping on top of him and knocking his breath out. He was still laughing, though.

"Yeah, well, you deserved that for dropping me." Cloud said. But he had to smile a little as well.

Zack's laughter was infectious, and the whole situation was thoroughly ridiculous, really. It wasn't long before both Cloud and Angeal were laughing just as much.

"So, what is your conclusion?" Angeal asked, a small smile playing at his lips.

"Hey, it seems kinda possible," Zack grinned.

"Hm." Cloud put on an expression of mock seriousness. "If I ever have a threesome, that is _not _the position we will be using."

Zack cracked up again.

No mention was made of the awkward boners all three ended up sporting.


End file.
